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Members of the Appointed Professionals Advisory Council held a retreat Monday to discuss goals for the coming year.

By Alexis Blue, University Communications
July 29, 2009

Researching shared governance at The University of Arizona, developing new ways to recognize appointed personnel and enhancing communication with administrators and fellow employees are among a slate of goals that the Appointed Professionals Advisory Council may pursue in the coming year.

The ideas were discussed Monday during a council retreat. About 38 of the council's 50 members attended the event at the Arizona Inn. 

"The next step is to determine which goals have enough council member support for immediate action and which we need to save for later in the year or even next year," said Holly Altman, chairwoman of the council. "The reality we face as a council is that APs tend to be very busy, with diverse and highly responsible academic and administrative roles to play throughout the UA. The goals are intended to serve as APAC's roadmap for the next year. Our hope is that whatever small actions we can take that are aligned with the goals will be of benefit to all APs, APAC and the UA as a whole."

APAC was created to serve as a forum for advising administrators and campus organizations about concerns specific to appointed personnel on campus.

"The vision has to do with enhancing the quality of career life of APs," Altman said.

The first goal identified by the council at Monday's retreat was to increase and enhance communication with appointed personnel and administrators on campus.

Altman said the council would like to develop new ways to communicate with appointed personnel outside of APAC, in order to hear their concerns and to share relevant information discussed during council meetings. Making more effective use of the recently updated council Web site and an appointed personnel e-mail listserv created by APAC last year might be one way to do that, she said.

The council also hopes to look for ways to increase communication with top administrators at the UA in order to better understand how appointed personnel can help the UA advance its mission and to share with them concerns and questions of council constituents. One event already in place to facilitate that type of communication is APAC's annual forum with the UA president, which will be held Sept. 22 at 3:15 p.m. in the Student Union Memorial Center's Gallagher Theater. All appointed personnel are invited to attend. 

Another APAC goal involves researching the meaning and status of shared governance – the mutual participation of faculty and administrators in policy decisions – at the UA. The council would like to look at possible ways to increase the influence of appointed personnel in that process, Altman said.

Finally, the council hopes to create a model for recognizing the achievements of appointed personnel on campus.

While faculty and staff are recognized in various ways throughout the year, there are few activities that specifically spotlight appointed personnel, who often tend to be lumped into the staff category, Altman noted.

Appointed personnel differ from classified staff on campus not only due to their terms of employment – they work on an annual contract basis – but also in the diverse range of skills they contribute to the University, she said, with positions like accountants, lawyers, academic advisers, researchers, adjunct faculty and more falling under that classification. 

"We want to develop a model for recognition of APs and make people on campus aware of their contribution," said Altman, who is director of outreach and community partnerships in the Office of Community Relations. 

Ways of doing that might include spotlighting employees on the APAC Web site or listserv, Altman said.

Any appointed personnel employee interested in joining APAC can e-mail apac@email.arizona.edu or attend one of the council's monthly meetings, which are open to the public. APAC's next meeting will be Aug. 31 at 3 p.m. in Room 102 of the Vine Avenue Annex. Meetings are held the last working Monday of each month from 3 p.m. to 5p.m. More information is available on the APAC Web site.